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Season 23
The twenty-third season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 27, 1997, and May 9, 1998. During the season, a controversy arose in which Weekend Update anchor Norm Macdonald was removed from the Update segment after angering NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer with his O. J. Simpson jokes. The weekly inclusion of O.J. jokes upset Ohlmeyer, who was good friends with Simpson. Ohlmeyer arranged to have Macdonald fired from the segment, but not from the show. Macdonald's final episode as Update anchor was on December 13, 1997. Quinn was then promoted to the job and anchored the segment in the next live episode, which aired January 10, 1998. Even though Macdonald still performed in sketches, he was not happy and eventually quit the show; his final appearance was on March 14, 1998. After MacDonald's departure this was also the final season for Jim Breuer as he left the show at season's end to move on to other acting opportunities. This season saw the deaths of two former cast members. Six weeks after he came back to host, Chris Farley became the fifth SNL cast member to die prematurely. Similar to his idol, John Belushi, Farley died of a speedball overdose at the age of 33. Two weeks after the season finale, long-time performer Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife. Following their deaths, NBC aired two SNL specials as tributes to Farley and Hartman as they were both remembered during this season. Cast Before the season, Colin Quinn was promoted to repertory status and Mark McKinney left the show. This season is the first season to not include any featured players or new cast members. It was also the only season to have an opening sequence that did not show any shots of New York City, instead featuring a 1950s-inspired design. Episodes 1-20 Before the season, Colin Quinn was promoted to repertory status and Mark McKinney left the show. This season is the first season to not include any featured players or new cast members. It was also the only season to have an opening sequence that did not show any shots of New York City, instead featuring a 1950s-inspired design. Lorne Michaels hired three new female former child actresses Brittany Ashton Holmes, Sarah Rose Karr and Alexa PenaVega. Repertory cast members *Jim Breuer *Will Ferrell *Soleil Moon Frye *Ana Gasteyer *Darrell Hammond *Chris Kattan *Norm Macdonald (final episode: March 14, 1998) *Tim Meadows *Tracy Morgan *Cheri Oteri *Colin Quinn *Molly Shannon Featured cast members *Al Franken *Brittany Ashton Holmes *Sarah Rose Karr *Alexa PenaVega bold denotes Weekend Update anchor Episode 21 Michaels hired Christian Cousins, a child actor, and Alan Zweibel, a member of the old guard. Repertory cast members *Jim Breuer *Will Ferrell *Soleil Moon Frye *Ana Gasteyer *Darrell Hammond *Chris Kattan *Tim Meadows *Tracy Morgan *Cheri Oteri *Colin Quinn *Molly Shannon Middle Cast members *Brittany Ashton Holmes *Sarah Rose Karr *Alexa PenaVega Featured cast members *Christian Cousins *Al Franken *Alan Zweibel bold denotes Weekend Update anchor Episodes Category:Season 23